Look I have been a petrol head all my life. ...but dont throw the 30l away a bit sluggish at the bottom but once it gets going...... I travelled back from kasane to sa with ararob that now belongs to another friend of mine. ...at 130km per hour I had to put foot in my 4.8 to keep up and he used half the feul WWW not the best dragster but for a overlanding car I think its cool.....feul costs is a problem ....and I love my 4.8 but the power of the 30l is great when you are cruising .....again just my opinion. ...

I can honestly say that cost-wise putting the turbo in is probably not the smartest idea in the world. The turbo costs almost as much as buying another 4.5l Patrol...
But then again: if you factor in the cost of two 4.5l Patrols (below R200k) vs the cost of buying anything with equivalent performance, then perhaps it's not so bad.

Ok, so I received the vehicle last night, and all I can say at this point in time is: what a pleasure.

From Centurion I climbed onto the N1, turned off N3, left on N17, stopped at Carnival Mall for a bite to eat, and then drove to Secunda. Not the longest test drive ever, but not so short that I couldn't get a good feel for the car and I am surprised at my overall finding:

I have never had such a relaxed drive in the Patrol than last night.

It wasn't the butt-clenching hair raising exhilarating feeling you would expect when you have just doubled the effective power of you vehicle. It was in fact a very leisurely cruise (between 80 and 160 depending on traffic) and not once did I ask for more power, or feel overwhelmed by what I had under me. On the N1, traffic was free (surprisingly) and I cruised all the way through Midrand in 5th gear comfortably holding 130kph. Not once did I need to gear down. (Everyone who drives a NA 4.5 will know exactly how much that means.)

The N3 has one longish up-hill: 5th gear 120 kph (stuck behind a Landrover): no problem.

N17: Now at this point I was feeling a lot more comfortable with the Patrol and started giving a little more... so cruising at 160kph: No problem all the way to Carnival Mall.

From Carnival mall, back onto the N17, through the toll gate. I figured the engine was warm enough, so exited the other side, leaving gently in second, went up to 3500 rpm, geared to third and floored it. It was only when I realized that my rev's were climbing faster than my gps that I figured out I must have been leaving some black marks in the road. Sorry SANRAL. Not my intention.

N17 to Secunda: Some trucks and slow traffic. Picking up speed from 80 to 120 without gearing down to 4th (typical passing of trucks): definitely viable but still, if you are really in hurry, 4th would be better as the power increase at 2000 RPM isn't that significant. In 4th gear: it becomes roughly equivalent to accelerating with a BMW 320i. Not a sportscar by any means, but if you consider that you are hauling a 3 ton truck, definitely worth a smile. (Haven't attempted gearing down to 3rd remembering what happened outside of Brakpan.)

In general: power is very smooth, very even and very reliable. Haven't felt this safe on the road since...well ever. Thank you Michael. This may not be the fastest Patrol on the road (knowing that there are guys like Mythical Beast and Tommie out there) but it surely is the smoothest.

Now I am looking forward to testing this on steep climbs, because I think that smooth delivery of power will even improve the handling (rather than the expected sudden increase in power causing wheel spin.)

PS: I will leave the honor of posting pics to Michael. This was after all his blood sweat and (sometimes) tears and he deserves a LOT of credit for the work done.

Sjoe dit klink lekker. I can only imagine how nice it must be to drive, I loved my 4.5 for the quietness and smoothness of the motor and interior, I remember just when I bought it that a few times I had to look at my rev counter at a red light just to check if the motor was still running. But the constants rowing through gears was tiring and it had to go.
Just wondering how you convinced Wife???

But with all this power just remember that if you are towing a heavy load that 5th gear is a weak point

But really for taking on a project like this and completing it so quickly, Micheal, Wilhelm and Wife

Matthew 6:33 Seek the Kingdom of God above ALL else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

Well easy really: She loves her turbo Jimny, and it is only fair that I get to have a turbo too.

I loved my 4.5 for the quietness and smoothness of the motor and interior, I remember just when I bought it that a few times I had to look at my rev counter at a red light just to check if the motor was still running.

It still idles quietly, but you definitely won't have to wonder if it works while driving.. The vehicle now has a very deep and satisfying grunt to it.

But with all this power just remember that if you are towing a heavy load that 5th gear is a weak point

Yes thank you, because this can be very easy to forget. Haven't towed anything yet (since yesterday), but I can imagine it might be easy to forget you are even towing anything!

Oh yes and before I forget the entire reason for posting here (and not just hijacking someone else's thread.)

Yes, Michael definitely knows about turboing a 4.5 Patrol (Even if he only just learnt a lot if it recently)

It is very expensive and if you plan on ever selling the vehicle, no I wouldn't do it because no way you can get even half of that back. If however you are currently driving a 4.5 and want to upgrade, rather consider this instead as it is cheaper than a the difference to a standard 4.8 and gives better power. (Plus you also don't have to rebuild any custom drawers and camping or other goodies you might have already spent time and money on.)

I've done this conversion at 330 000 km, and I believe with all the safety guards and protection Michael spent so much time on, I could very likely get this motor to 1000 000 km. (Time of course will tell and I will keep you posted.)